My aim is to offer insights into some of the more subtle principles underpinning prints. The commentary is based on thirty-eight years of teaching and the prints and other collectables that I am focusing on are those which I have acquired over the years.
In the galleries of prints (accessed by clicking the links immediately below) I am also adding fresh images offered for sale. If you get lost in the maze of links, simply click the "home" button to return to the blog discussions.

“Plate 13: Plants. Landscape with
several large cabbages, artichokes and pumpkins in foreground, large trees
beyond, a resting farmer with a crate at left, a farmhouse in background; after
Abraham Bloemaert. 1613-1614 Engraving”

Condition: well-inked and well-printed impression
trimmed with thread margins around the image borderline and laid upon a support
sheet. The sheet has an area of replenished loss at the upper left corner and the
tips of the lower corners may also be restored (I am not certain about this) and there are a few light surface marks (e.g. the trace of a mark in front of
the seated figure at left); otherwise the sheet is in good condition.

I am selling this lush image of
vegetable bounty by one of the most important 16–17th century printmakers for
AU$326 (currently US$241.62/EUR207.36/GBP181.86 at the time of posting this
print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of
course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing spectacular engraving exemplifying
not only the leaning to Mannerism of the time but also the spirit of realism of the Dutch Golden Age, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.

This print has been sold

This lush vegetable patch is
extraordinary. From my experience of gently guiding my cook into the garden to
dig, plant, fertilize and water an assortment of seeds to make similar
vegetable patches, I now have low expectations of ever seeing such award
winning vegetables … and certainly not ones magically grown in the shadow of a
gnarly tree.

The extraordinary aspect of this vision
of vegetables, however, is not about the likelihood of such a crop. Instead,
what makes this scene special is the way that Bolswert has portrayed the
harvest. By this I mean that he has portrayed the vegetables as a blind person
might perceive them: by touch. In short, Bolswert has moulded their forms using lines shaped by tactile
sensory experience—what artists term a haptic approach—more than by visual
observation.